Anyone who does not want to leave their estate to chance will sooner or later need to deal with dispositions of propertyupon death in Switzerland. These are legal arrangements by which you determine who receives what, whether someone is to receive only a specific asset, such as an apartment or a sum of money, and who is to handle the administration after your death. One aim is to avoid family conflicts as far as possible. As a starting point, it is helpful to know the most important instruments: the will, the contract of succession and the legacy. In addition, the question of where such documents are kept or registered also plays an important role, so that they can actually be found in the event of death.
The will, or testamentary disposition, is the traditional instrument. It is generally unilateral and allows you to arrange the succession according to your wishes within the statutory limits, in particular within the limits of compulsory portions. Because a will is typically made without the participation of other persons, it is flexible and can be amended again, provided that the formal requirements are observed. This flexibility is often an advantage, but in families with a high potential for conflict it can also create uncertainty, because later changes remain possible.
Where more binding effect and planning certainty for everyone involved are required, the contract of succession is usually the better option. The Swiss Civil Code provides the contract of succession as an instrument for binding estate planning. It is a bilateral or multilateral legal transaction upon death and has binding effect because, in principle, the testator can no longer withdraw from it unilaterally. In practice, this is particularly relevant where several interests need to be reconciled, for example in order to protect the spouse or registered partner, to benefit third parties in a targeted manner, or to create clear rules in blended families. Especially where compulsory portions are relevant, or where individual family members are to be deliberately included in the arrangement, the contract of succession is often the stronger instrument compared with a unilateral will.
The waiver of inheritance is often closely connected with the contract of succession. Anyone who waives their future inheritance, either fully or partially, does so during their lifetime in contractual form, and under Swiss law this waiver is treated as a contract of succession. In legal terminology, a distinction is often made between “positive” contracts of succession, such as the institution of heirs or legacies, and “negative” contracts of succession, meaning waivers of inheritance. In practice, these elements are often combined: for example, where spouses wish to benefit each other extensively and the descendants agree to this fully or partially. A waiver of inheritance may also be concluded subject to a resolutory condition, so that it only applies if a certain person actually acquires the inheritance share, for example if the beneficiary does not predecease the testator or does not disclaim the inheritance.
Another term that appears in many estate plans is the legacy. Put simply, a legacy is a disposition of a specific asset or a specific benefit to a person without that person automatically becoming an heir. Typical examples include sums of money, a car, jewellery, art, or also rights such as a right of residence or a usufruct. Legacies are popular where a person wishes to allocate something very specifically without changing the overall status of the heirs.
For practical purposes, the question of whether the disposition will later be found is at least as important as its content. In Switzerland, there is the Swiss Register of Wills, which is maintained by the Swiss Notaries Association and stores information about the existence and place of safekeeping of certain deposited dispositions. In addition, depending on the canton or competent authority, official deposit may also be possible or advisable. What matters is that relatives or the competent authority can reliably become aware of the document in the event of death.
In summary: the will is flexible, the contract of succession is binding, and the legacy is used to allocate individual assets. Which solution is suitable almost always depends on the same questions: compulsory portions, family model, whether traditional or blended, protection of the partner, real estate or business assets, and how important binding arrangements are for family peace.